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Exhibition  of 


apestrtes 


at  the  galleries  of 

W m.  ^aufngartefi\  ^  Co 

715  Fijih  Avehiw 
at  Fifty-sixth  Street 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Getty  Research  Institute 


https://archive.org/details/antiquetapestrieOOunse 


ANTIQUE 

TAPESTRIES 


C/jM'^~JJ^'\jAj^  /l^lX 


Copyright,  igi6 
Wm.  Baumgarten  &>  Co. 


Descriptive  List  of  the  Tapestries 
Exhibited 


1  “ACHILLES  DISCOVERED,”  a  tapestry  12 
feet  I  by  16  feet  10,  woven  in  Brussels  in  the  style  of 
Louis  XIV,  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
by  Jean  Baptiste  Vermilion,  whose  name  is  signed  in 
the  bottom  selvage  (1.  B.  VERMILION).  Thetis, 
the  mother  of  Achilles,  in  order  to  preserve  the  life 
of  her  son,  of  whom  it  had  been  predicted  that  with¬ 
out  him  Troy  could  not  be  taken,  and  that  the  victory 
would  cost  him  his  life,  dressed  him  as  a  girl  and  sent 
him  to  be  brought  up  at  the  court  of  Lycomedes,  in 
the  island  of  Scyros.  Here  he  fell  in  love  and  secretly 
married  the  most  beautiful  of  Lycomedes’  daughters. 
Meanwhile,  the  Greeks,  being  unable  to  capture  Troy, 
sent  Ulysses  to  find  Achilles.  Ulysses  disguised 
himself  as  a  pedler,  went  to  the  palace  of  Lycomedes 
and  spread  out  his  wares  (as  shown  in  the  tapestry) 
before  the  daughters  of  Lycomedes.  Achilles  at  once 
betrayed  himself  by  the  enthusiasm  with  which  he 
seized  a  helmet  that  lay  concealed  among  the  feminine 
trinkets. 

2  “TESTING  THE  VINTAGE,”  a  tapestry  after 
the  design  of  Teniers,  10  feet  6  by  ii  feet  5,'’woven  in 
Brussels,  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century 


5 


by  Pierre  van  den  Hecke,  whose  signature,  P.  VAN 
DEN  HECKE,  together  with  the  Brussels  mark, 
a  shield  between  two  B’s,  appears  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  panel. 

3  “SPRING,”  a  tapestry  lo  feet  9  by  14  feet,  after 
the  design  of  Louis  van  Schoor  of  Antwerp,  -who  is 
responsible  for  many  of  the  most  beautiful  tapestries 
produced  in  Brussels  in  the  period  of  Louis  XIV, 
among  them:  Nos.  4  and  5  in  this  exhibition;  four 
tapestries  in  our  collection  but  not  included  in  this 
exhibition,  portraying  the  four  goddesses  of 
Abundance,  Pomona,  Ceres,  Ops,  Flora;  a  splendid 
“Abundance”  tapestry  shown  at  the  recent  Phila¬ 
delphia  Tapestry  Exhibition;  two  tapestries  illus¬ 
trated  by  Guichard  and  Darcel  in  their  elaborate 
volumes  on  the  “Tapisseries  du  Garde  Meuble.” 

4  “HUNTING,”  a  tapestry  10  feet  2  by  19  feet  5, 
one  of  the  largest  and  richest  scenes  designed  by 
Louis  Van  Schoor  (see  description  of  No.  3),  and 
a  companion  piece  to  No.  5,  with  the  same  border 
and  height. 

5  “MUSIC,”  a  tapestry  10  feet  4  by  13  feet  6, 
companion  piece  to  No.  4.  The  composition  is 
interesting  and  effective,  the  broad  river  and  the  huge 
mountains  giving  the  lady  with  the  guitar  just  the 
kind  of  magnificent  background  that  she  and  the 
style  of  the  period  demand. 

6  “FISH"  MARKET,”  a  tapestry  10  feet  8  by  18 
feet  4,  woven  at  Beauvais  in  the  period  of  Louis  XIV, 


6 


after  the  design  of  Teniers.  Most  tenieres  are  com¬ 
paratively  small,  and  not  sufficiently  important  for  a 
large  interior.  This,  on  the  contrary,  with  its  wide 
and  beautiful  border,  and  magnificent  contrasts  of 
air,  water,  and  architecture,  is  worthy  to  be  employed 
as  the  piece  de  resistance  in  a  noble  room.  For  once, 
Teniers  forsook  the  trivial,  but  fortunately  without 
losing  any  of  the  qualities  that  make  his  work  fas¬ 
cinating. 

7  “PEASANTS  DANCING,”  a  tapestry  lo  by  15 
feet,  one  of  Teniers’  most  characteristic  scenes,  woven 
at  Brussels  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Certainly  nothing  could  be  more  suggestive  of  the 
farmyard  than  the  pig’s  head  protruding  on  the  left, 
or  of  peasant  music  than  the  primitive  instrument 
whose  strings  are  made  to  vibrate  by  the  circumference 
of  a  wooden  wheel,  the  handle  of  which  the  operator 
is  seen  turning. 

8  “DIANA  and  CALLISTO,”  a  Louis  XIV  Brussels 
tapestry,  9  feet  7  by  14  feet  6.  On  the  extreme  right, 
the  eagle  of  Jupiter;  on  the  left,  Callisto  and  the  other 
maidens  of  Diana;  in  the  foreground,  Jupiter  dis¬ 
guised  as  Diana,  bearing  away  the  child  Areas — that 
is  the  visible  proof  of  Callisto’s  flirtation  with  Jupiter 
— in  order  to  save  it  from  the  wrath  of  Juno. 

9  “CHILDREN  PLAYING,”  a  Louis  XVI  tap¬ 
estry,  10  feet  8  by  7  feet  i,  woven  at  Aubusson  in  the 
last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Texture  and 
coloration  are  those  characteristic  of  the  finest  work 


7 


of  Aubusson  at  this  period.  The  effect  of  the  rose 
on  cream  ground  with  blue  border,  is  exquisitely 
delicate  and  appropriately  backgrounds  the  small 
upright  oval  medallion  in  the  centre  of  the  panel, 
which  carries  the  picture.  The  scene  shows  three 
children  with  “bones,”  one  of  the  children  apparently 
trying  to  learn  from  the  other  two  how  to  wield  the 
delectable  instrum.ents  of  music. 

10  “THE  JEWELER,”  a  Gothic  tapestry,  8  feet  8 
by  8  feet  9,  woven  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  possessing  more  human  interest  than 
almost  any  of  its  contemporaries  that  are  apt  to 
deal  with  remote  historical  or  religious  subjects. 
Here  we  have  a  princely  court,  enlivened  by  the 
presence  of  ten  beautifully  gowned  and  hatted  and 
jeweled  ladies,  with  three  lonely  cavaliers  in  the  back¬ 
ground,  two  of  whom  far  outshine  the  ladies  by  means 
of  the  trinities  of  luxuriant  feathers  with  which  their 
hats  are  adorned.  The  jeweler’s  portmanteau  con¬ 
tains  a  rich  stock  displayed  to  tempt  the  extravagance 
of  the  fair  ones — a  small  round  mirror  in  rich  frame, 
necklaces  and  pendants,  numerous  sticks  of  rings, 
boxes  of  jewels  set  and  unset,  a  royal  pack  of  cards, 
a  costly  pair  of  gloves,  and  silk  ribbons  galore.  Al¬ 
ready  some  of  the  ladies,  with  their  curiously  elab¬ 
orate  and  interesting  millinery,  are  beginning  to 
yield  to  the  fascination  of  the  wares. 

11  “ARABESQUE,”  a  tapestry  8  feet  8  by  5  feet  6, 
one  of  those  designed  by  Berain  for  the  tapestry  works 


8 


at  Beauvais,  and  woven  there  during  the  reign  of 
Louis  XIV.  The  large  vase  of  flowers,  on  arabesque 
ground  with  arabesque  border,  all  in  red  and  blue 
on  cream  and  blue,  is  most  decorative. 

12  “GROTESQUE,”  a  framed  tapestry  4  feet  6  by 
7  feet,  one  of  the  type  inspired  by  the  ornamental 
paintings  of  ancient  Rome,  called  grotesque  in  the  six¬ 
teenth  century  because  found  underground,  like  those 
excavated  later  at  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum.  In 
the  seventeenth  century  the  term  grotesque  was 
replaced  by  arabesque. 

13  “EUROPA,”  an  eighteenth  century  Gobelin 
tapestry,  10  feet  2  by  10  feet  9,  noteworthy  for  the 
fact  that  Europa  herself,  as  in  the  similar  scene  de¬ 
signed  by  Oudry,  is  absent.  In  the  foreground, 
Jupiter  asleep,  and  Mercury,  who  has  dropped  his 
caduceus  before  going  to  summon  the  fair  maiden. 
In  the  background  on  the  left,  Cupid  and  the  white 
bull  into  which  Jupiter  transforms  himself  for  the 
purpose  of  deceiving  Europa. 

14  “PSYCHE,”  an  eighteenth  century  Beauvais 
tapestry,  9  feet  6  by  8  feet  8.  Psyche,  borne  by 
the  Zephyrs,  arrives  at  the  palace  of  Love. 

15  “DIANA  and  ENDYMION,”  an  eighteenth 
century  Gobelin  tapestry,  ii  feet  3  by  13  feet. 
Endymion  was  the  only  man  the  chaste  Diana  ever 
loved,  and  even  him  she  loved  chastely.  But  the 
scene  shows  that  her  interest  has  at  last  been  really 


9 


aroused.  Characteristic  of  her  is  the  chariot  drawn 
by  two  hinds,  as  well  as  the  crescent  on  her  brow. 

16  “ALEXANDER  and  ANTIPATER,”  a  Direc- 
toire  tapestry,  ii  feet  i  by  7  feet  10,  after  the  design 
of  Monsiau,  woven  at  Beauvais  in  the  last  decade  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  It  shows  Alexander  seated, 
giving  his  signet  ring  to  Antipater  as  sign  that  he 
entrusts  to  him  the  rule  of  Greece  during  his  own 
absence  in  the  East;  and  it  is  a  companion  piece  to  the 
tapestry  illustrated  by  M.  Badin  in  his  book  on  the 
Beauvais  tapestry  works,  “Aristotle  surprised  by 
Alexander  while  drawing  the  chariot  of  Camaspe.” 

17  “DIANA  and  ENDYMION,”  an  eighteenth 
century  Gobelin  tapestry,  7  feet  9  by  10  feet,  another 
version  of  the  scene  pictured  in  No.  15. 

18  “CHAMBORD,”  a  Gobelin  tapestry  10  feet  10 
by  22  feet,  one  of  the  famous  twelve  Royal  Resi¬ 
dences  designed  by  Charles  Lebrun  for  Louis  XIV, 
and  woven  at  the  Gobelins  over  and  over  again,  on 
both  high  warp  and  low  warp  looms.  Erom  the 
decorative  point  of  view,  this  is  the  most  attractive 
“Chambord”  ever  produced,  lacking  the  massive 
entablature  that  in  the  earlier  examples  overloaded 
the  top  of  the  panel;  but  extended  on  both  right  and 
left  by  the  addition  of  the  side  panels.  The  tapestry 
before  us  came  from  the  Parma  collection,  and  was 
presented  by  Louis  XV  to  his  father-in-law,  the 
fugitive  king  of  Poland,  Stanislas,  who  inhabited 


10 


Chambord  from  1725  to  1733.  Both  of  their  mono¬ 
grams  appear  twice  in  the  lower  part  of  the  tapestry, 
the  double  “L”  of  Louis,  and  the  “ST”  of  Stanislas. 
The  monogram  on  the  cartouche  in  the  upper  part  of 
the  tapestry  is  said  to  be  that  of  Louis  XV  (Quinze) 
as  Duke  of  Parma  (L  Q  D  P). 

19,  20,  21,  22  “AMUSEMENTS  CHAMPETRES,” 
a  set  of  four  tapestries  9  feet  high,  by  13  feet  6,  16  feet 
4,  II  feet  II,  and  15  feet  wide,  respectively,  woven  at 
Aubusson  in  the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
in  coarsest  but  fascinating  texture  that  makes  the 
most  of  the  luminous  background  distinctive  of 
Aubusson  tapestries  of  this  period.  The  subject  of 
the  first  is  “SEE-SAW;”  of  the  second,  “BLIND 
MAN’S  BUFF;”  of  the  third,  “HOLDING  HANDS;” 
of  the  fourth,  “LEAP  FROG.” 

23  A  Louis  XIV  Flemish  tapestry  8  feet  6  by  10 
feet  10,  of  unidentified  subject,  with  light  and  at¬ 
tractive  arabesque  border,  and  with  massive  classic 
architecture  on  the  right  that  backgrounds  the  scene 
effectively. 

24  “MELEAGER  and  ATALANTA,”  a  Louis  XIV 
Flemish  tapestry,  9  feet  10  by  13  feet  5.  The  same 
design  as  one  in  the  Royal  Swedish  Collection  that  is 
signed  with  the  Brussels  mark  and  MARCUS.  DE. 
VOS.  The  border  is  noteworthy. 

25  “FOUNTAIN,”  a  Louis  XIV  Flemish  tapestry, 
9  feet  7  by  12  feet  6,  symbolizing  the  delights  of  water. 


11 


26  “CHRIST  GIVING  the  KEYS  to  SAINT 
PETER,”  lo  feet  6  by  lo  feet,  a  late  Renaissance 
version  of  Raphael’s  famous  design,  one  of  the  ten 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  made  for  Pope  Leo  X,  woven  at 
Brussels  for  the  Sistine  Chapel,  and  now  hanging  in  the 
Vatican.  The  Latin  caption  in  the  top  border  reads, 
translated:  “Christ  entrusts  his  sheep  to  Peter,  say¬ 
ing:  ‘Feed  my  sheep,’  John  XXI,”  but  the  Latin 
co7inendat  is  a  perversion  from  commendat. 

27  “HECTOR  BATTERING  DOWN  the  GATE,” 
a  Renaissance  tapestry,  ii  feet  6  by  14  feet  10,  of 
rich  coloration,  picturing  the  famous  scene  from 
Homer’s  “Iliad,”  where  Hector,  with  a  huge  rock, 
batters  down  the  gate  of  the  fortified  camp  of  the 
Greeks. 

28  “JUDITH,”  a  Renaissance  tapestry,  10  feet  by 
8  feet  6,  woven  at  Tournai,  the  tower  of  which  appears 
in  the  right  selvage,  and  picturing  the  godspeed  given 
by  the  Jewish  high  priest  to  Judith  and  her  maid  when 
they  set  forth  on  their  dangerous  mission  to  Holo- 
phernes. 

29  “DIANA  at  the  BATH,”  a  delightfully  modest 
Renaissance  version  of  the  famous  story,  1 1  feet  2  by 
17  feet  I.  Diana  and  her  maids  are  on  the  right; 
Actaeon  and  his  huntsmen,  on  the  left;  in  the  back¬ 
ground  on  the  left,  a  splendid  chateau  and  garden; 
in  the  background  on  the  right,  a  village  scene  with 
peasants  drinking  and  dancing.  The  activity  of  the 
hunstmen  with  their  falcons  and  lures  is  noticeable. 


12 


“EURYDICE,"  a  Renaissance  tapestry,  lo  feet 
8  by  14  feet  5,  showing  the  serpent’s  wound  received 
in  Hying  from  a  too  ardent  lover,  which  sent 
Eurydice  down  to  the  realms  of  Pluto  and  Proser¬ 
pine,  whence  her  bridegroom  Orpheus  struggled  to 
rescue  her,  thus  developing  the  famous  story  of 
“Orpheus  and  Eurydice.’’ 

31  “GARDEN,’’  a  rare  and  rich  Renaissance 
tapestry,  10  feet  10  by  10  feet  7,  full  of  color  and 
decorative  detail  as  well  as  human  interest.  The 
contrast  of  the  lake  with  the  arbored  bridges  and 
vine-covered  shores  is  splendidly  effective. 

32,  33,  34,  35  “VERDURES,’’  set  of  four,  9  feet 
4  inches  high,  by  3  feet  10,  6  feet  ii,  13  feet  7,  and 
7  feet  wide,  respectively,  woven  at  Aubusson  in  the 
last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  backgrounded  with 
imposing  chateaux  and  rivers,  and  enlivened  with 
wild  fowls  and  birds. 

36,  37,  38,  39  “VERDURES,’’  set  of  four  based  on 
the  designs  of  Oudry,  9  feet  5  inches  high,  by  15  feet 
8,  13  feet  11,4  feet  2,  and  to  feet  1 1  wide,  respectively, 
with  architectural  backgrounds,  and  dogs  and  wild 
fowls  in  the  foregrounds.  Interesting  borders  of 
festooned  poles. 

40  A  Louis  XIV  cantonniere  13  feet  7  by  12  feet  7, 
of  rich  coloration,  with  coats-of-arms  in  each  upper 
corner. 


13 


41  “ROYAL  ARMORIALS,”  a  pair  of  Gobelin 
tapestries,  each  9  feet  by  ii  feet  7,  bearing  the  royal 
insignia  of  Louis  XIV.  Note  particularly  the  mono¬ 
gram  in  the  bottom  border;  the  fleur-de-lis  sceptre, 
and  the  hand  of  justice  in  the  side  borders;  and  the 
representation  of  Louis  XIV  as  the  Sun  God  {roi  de 
soleil)  in  the  top  border. 

42  “BALANQOIRE”  (the  swing),  a  small  Aubusson 
tapestry,  6  feet  4  by  10  feet  8,  of  agreeable  compo¬ 
sition  and  pleasing  texture. 


14 


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